Von Neumann Architecture

Memory

Input and Output (I/O)

Central Processing Unit (CPU)

arithmetic and logic unit (ALU)

control unit

Notes:

Although there are many different kinds of microprocessors and microprocessor-based systems, most microprocessors are designed using the same architecture. The most popular computer architecture used nowadays is the von Neumann architecture. More complex systems use the Harvard architecture (to be explained in Lecture 11). The von Neumann architecture divides the computer system into five parts: computation unit, control unit, memory, input, and output. Generally, the computation and control unit together are called the central processing unit (CPU). Input and output are also normally considered together and referred to as I/O.